immediately drawn up. The lion, perceiving this, made a prodigious
leap, but the dog was happily beyond his reach. The poor creature,
drawn in safety to the terrace, at once took flight, and was soon lost
to view.

At the moment when the lion threw himself on the ground of the pit,
roaring with rage at the escape of his prey, the Sicilian entered, calm
and firm, superb in his brilliant costume, and with his club in his
hand.

At his appearance in the pit, a silence like death came over the crowd
of spectators. The Hercules walked rapidly toward a corner, and,
leaning upon his club, awaited the onslaught of the lion, who, blinded
by fury, had not yet perceived his entrance.

The waiting was of short duration, for the lion, in turning, espied
him, and the fire that flashed from the eyes of the terrible beast told
of savage joy in finding another victim.

Here, however, the animal showed for a moment a feeling of anxiety;
slowly, as if conscious that he was in the presence of a powerful
adversary, he retreated some steps, keeping his fiery eyes all the time
on the man. The Sicilian also kept his keen gaze on the lion, and, with
his body slightly inclined forward, marked every alteration of
position. Between the two adversaries, it was easy to see that fear was
on the side of the beast; but, in comparing the feeble means of the
man--a rude club--with the powerful structure of the lion, whose
boundings made the very ground beneath him tremble, it was hard for the
spectators to believe that courage, and not strength, would win the
victory.